


Endurance Night

by XIntensity_After_DarkX (XIntensity_FallsX)



Series: Endurance Epic [1]
Category: Hazbin Hotel (Web Series)
Genre: Alastor is Ace, But Vox isn't, M/M, Survival, Violence, beginning relationship, brief sexual fantasy, one-sided lust, relationship build up, some horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-23
Updated: 2019-11-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:02:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21534166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XIntensity_FallsX/pseuds/XIntensity_After_DarkX
Summary: Heaven decides to upgrade their executioners and spring a surprise cleanse night on Hell to test them out. Alastor and Vox find themselves stuck in the middle of mass carnage as they struggle to make it out alive.
Relationships: Alastor/Vox
Series: Endurance Epic [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1822126
Comments: 40
Kudos: 516





	Endurance Night

**Author's Note:**

> Soooo, it's not Radiodust, but that's coming. I took a break from writing until the pilot came out. I've got my next radiodust fic planned out, but I took a moment to explore another pairing. Hopefully you will enjoy it!

Charlie leaned against one of the hotel’s balconies.  As she looked downward, s he spotted  Alastor on his way to go pick up a few items from the hotel. She gave him a wave, which he returned before he grew too distant to see.

The doors to the balcony slammed open, and Angel stormed out to her. “Why didn’t  ya let me go with him!? I’m bored!”

“I think you’ve annoyed  Alastor enough for a day.” Charlie patted the top of his head. “Let him go clear his head.”

“Yeah, well- that's great in all, but now we have to deal with him.”  Vaggie gestured to Angel and scowled. “I can’t get any work done because of you!”

“Aw, calm down toots! As soon as Smiles is back, I’ll go back to  harassin ’ him! Everyone wins then, especially me!”

“Angel, please don’t pester Alastor, we really need him here. I- hold on. I’ve got a message.”  Charlie shook her head, pulling out her phone to check her messages. There was one from her father, which she instantly listened to. Her eyes grew wide. “Oh, fuck. Ooohh fuck.”

Vaggie and Angel stopped their bickering, looking to Charlie with sudden silence.

“There’s going to be another extermination.” The words tumbled out of her mouth, and she ran a hand down her face. “Heaven's testing a new crop of exterminators- Dad didn’t say when, but it’s going to be soon!”

“Shit, we just went through one!”  Vaggie threw her hands up , and looked to Angel . “Come on, pain in the ass. Let’s get the hotel ready.” 

“Wait!” Charlie waved her hands to get their attention . “Al just left- W-what are we going to do? He doesn’t have a phone!” She raked her hand through her hair.  Angel and  Vaggie exchanged nervous glances.  “M-Maybe he can hear us from here.” The three of them went to the railing, hollering out his name over the bustling streets of Hell.

\- 

"Hey, Radio Demon!”

“Wait, we need an exclusive!”

“Tell us all about your relationship with  the Hazbin Hotel !”

A whole month of this.  Alastor’s shoulders nearly went up to his ears. At one point, he indulged them in an interview. The next time, he ate one of the reporters. It did not seem to d amper their determination then, nor did his quickening pace deter them now. Questions were being bombarded at his back, relentless and plentiful. 

“Okay, okay. That’s  _ enough _ .” From out of the crowd of reporters came Vox, a smile plastered over his screen. He turned to face them, making a shooing motion. “Interview time is over, everyone. You’re all on my payroll, so... Get the hell out of here. Go find some other demon to pester.”

Alastor lowered his shoulders slightly. “I’m not sure what’s worse, you or the group of reporters.”

“Do you want me to invite them back? They’re still in shouting distance.”

“No.” He folded his arms across his chest. His smile remained, though he did let out a constrained sigh. “What do you want, Vox?”

“What, can’t two old friends talk?”

“ Oooh , we’re friends? Could have fooled me.” His eyes turned to dials, his mouth becoming fixed in place. Vox’s voice came out of his mouth in a tin like sound, wrapped in static. “ _ I think you’re confused, not that I’m surprised. Old relics don’t get many updates after all. I never wanted to be friends with a has-been like you. I don’t think you’re totally useless though, I do love a red head.  _ _ But i _ _ f you don’t want to bone, I don’t have time for you.”  _ The dials disappeared, and  Alastor’s mouth opened to speak in his own voice. “It’s only recently that I learned what the term ‘to bone’ means, and while I didn’t think it could be possible; I find you more detestable than ever.”

“Alright, alright. I did say that—many years ago. I’ve changed my views on you \- as I have the right to . I’m here to offer you a job. You’re more popular than ever what with you being part of that train wreck hotel-” He stopped for a moment, his screen flickering to a different, more amused expression. “-That is the most  _ miserable _ smile I’ve ever seen.”

He finally dropped his shoulders. “You know, I’m not thrilled my name is linked with redemption, but I suppose that’s the price you pay for not being bored. However, I will not be a part of your cheesy network of brain waste - nor will I have your name linked all over the hotel. That’s  _ my _ fun, not yours.”

“ Damn, you’re something else. You’re not even going to budge for fame and  fortune . ”

Alastor narrowed his eyes at him. “You’re correct.  Yet you’re still here, wasting my time .”

“ Hrm . ” Vox tapped on the bottom of his screen. “What was that you said about the price you pay for not being bored? I’m not bored, and you’re paying the price, babe.”

Alastor’s ears went rigid.  “Don’t call me babe. I’m not your ‘babe’.”

“Relax! It’s a Hollywood thing. You call everyone babe. It’s like pal.” Vox threw an arm around his shoulders. The crackle of static coming off of  Alastor made the antennae on his head vibrate pleasantly. “I know, I know. I’m violating your personal space, but I’ll compensate you with a cup of coffee and a Danish.  I need to get off my feet for a bit, my back’s been bothering me lately.  You can tell me how great everything tastes, and I’ll stare at you murderously while longing for the days when I had an actual mouth.”

Alastor let out of a snort of laughter. “Oh, I  _ enjoy  _ that look. You’ve got a deal.”

-

Vox watched the steam rise out of  Alastor’s coffee cup. It swirled up, eventually becoming a wisp of nothing in Hell’s afternoon air. His companion’s expression had relaxed just enough to tell something else was still on his mind. “What, is the coffee not good enough?”

“No, no. It’s delicious.  Perfectly brewed and just the right temperature.”

“Rub it in a little more, babe. Go ahead.”

Alastor snickered, took a drink, and let out a sigh. “The hotel is a lot of work. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a very entertaining experience! I regretfully don’t have as much time to myself as I would like. This is the first time I’m having a conversation without something blowing up or going horrifically wrong. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, but I don’t think it’s going to. ”

“Yeah, sorry babe. There is no other shoe here . I like keeping my business meetings uneventful. ” He shifted in the chair, folding his hands together in front of him on the table. His aching back nagged at him, making him wiggle a bit more for comfort in the iron chair. “These fucking chairs are terrible. Speaking of terrible things, what can I do to get you to invite some of my cameras into your hotel. You know, like a documentary. It’ll be one-hundred percent classy; I promise.”

He played with the mug for a moment. “ No, Vox. No cameras.  I don’t  need your crews around while everything else is happening. Why would that even make for entertaining television? ”

“Ugh, y ou’ve got no imagination. ” He rolled his eyes. “ Haven’t you ever heard of reality TV? Wait. No. You wouldn’t. You never bothered investing in anything after the year you died. You’re not even on any of the social media Hell has. Not that I’m surprised-”

“Social media...? Is that the thing Angel’s always fiddling around with on his portable device?” He paused, his ears standing straight up. “...You’ve attempted to find me on the social media?”

“Need I remind you of the time I told you I wanted to  fuck ? The offer still stands, by the way. Why wouldn’t I try to look you up?” He smirked at the pursed lipped smile  Alastor gave him. “Look, I know you’re not into that. I’ll stop after one final question, I promise.”

“One?”  Alastor picked up the coffee mug. “I’ll bite. What is it?”

“A re you hiding a tail under that coat?”

“Oh, oh  _ no _ . Look at that. I’m  _ accidently _ spilling the coffee you bought me that you can’t drink-”  Alastor picked up the cup, tilting it enough for a bit to spill out and hit the café patio floor.

“Enough of the coffee torture- I get it. Oh- give me a moment, I’m getting a  message .” He shook his head and then blinked, pulling his phone out of his pocket. His expression changed to a worried one.

“What’s wrong? Did your stocks suddenly tank? Your porn empire  go soft? Spit it out, man!”

Vox clicked the phone screen, and setting the phone on the café table. A message from Lucifer began to play. “ _ Denizens of Hell! This is a city-wide alert. Heaven is launching an  _ _ all _ _ - _ _ out _ _ raid, featuring several new types of executioners. I suggest you all take shelter as soon as possible. More details will be available soon!” _

Alastor got to his feet quickly, watching as other demons rapidly began to flee the café.  S irens began to blare out the warning. “Well, I wouldn’t say it’s been pleasant, but-”

“Trade barbs with me on the way. We’re going to my  studio -”

“ _ We _ ?!”  Alastor blinked. “You’re CRAZY if you think I’d ever go back to your sleaz y studio . I’m going back to the hotel-” The air felt  suddenly  sour, and something pricked at the back of his neck. He was not certain when he had gotten so close to Vox, but he jumped when bumping in to him.

“ This feels is different.” His voice went soft. “You’ve been here longer than  me , did this ever-”

“No. This is new. Heaven’s never released  prototypes , nor have they ever had two cleanses in one year. ” His voice wavered slightly. “I would never want to team up with you, but we’re some of Hell’s most powerful demons. We have a greater chance of survival if we’re together. We’re going to the hotel. That’s the only option on the table.”

“Whatever- I don’t care! Let’s get the hell out of here.” Vox grabbed his forearm, pulling him toward the café's gate. He was met with little resistance, as  Alastor’s shoes clacked quickly on the cobblestone. He skidded to a stop, spying an executioner hovering in the air with its back turned to him.  Alastor bumped into him at the sudden stop. Vox felt one of his hands grabbing his arm. “Hey  Alastor ... When have they hovered?”

“ N ever.”

A demon not far from them screamed out, running across the street for cover. The floating executioner shot out a beam of energy, striking the demon full on. With an agonized howl, he turned red and burst into ash. Another, flailing demon took off toward them. It too was struck down into a pile of ash. Vox watched  it all , letting  it sink in. His eyes narrowed slightly. “I think I see a pattern, I-  Alastor ?”

Alastor’s eyes w ere wide , he gave a jerk to run but Vox still held tight to him. “We need to go ; it’s not turned our way! We can get away-”

Vox squinted at the executioner. It seemed to remain in place, still not turning toward them despite their conversation. “No, it doesn’t know we’re here.” He began calmly. “If we run now, it’ll get us.” 

“No! We need to go! Vox,  _ please _ ! We need to run! ”

Vox pulled him into his arms. “ Alastor ,  _ trust me _ . I think it’s hunting via movement.” He held tight, trying to get  Alastor to stay still. In the end they wound up chest to chest, with  Alastor’s pounding heart hammering into him. He watched as the being in the sky slowly turned around , a beam of light washing over every crevice in the area. “ _ Trust me. Stay still.”  _

Alastor’s movements slowed to nothing. His heart still pounded, and his claws digging into the material of Vox’s expensive suit. 

The seconds ticked away until a ding rang out from the hovering executioner. “AREA CLEAR.” It flew off, leaving the two alone on the street.

Vox let go of  Alastor . “Well, that was entirely new.”

“H -h ow did you know to do that? To not move?”  Despite having let go of him,  Alastor still clung to his suit lapel.

“Those two demons were flailing around and they were destroyed, so I took a chance. I figured we would be fucked either way. I know you saw that happen. You’re a smart demon, why didn’t-” He took a long look at Alastor. While he still smiled, he shook hard, his ears twitching in different directions as if trying to keep on top of the sounds around them for anything new. “...Are you okay?”

“I hate this.” he raked a hand through his hair. “ _ I hate this so much _ .” 

“We all do, babe.” He grabbed  Alastor’s forearm. “Let’s get the fuck out of here and you can tell me more. We’ll go up the middle of the city, and head for safety from there.” There was no fight, no resistance.  Alastor ran with him, at his side, down the city street. They turned a corner to a narrow and crooked street, the sounds of their foot falls bouncing off the buildings.

Vox pulled  Alastor into an alleyway.  He let go of  Alastor’s arm, leaning over to place a hand on his throbbing lower back.  “Hold- hold on. I need to catch my breath , and my stupid back . I was never much for sprinting-” He waited for a characteristic jab from  Alastor , but when he received  - one, he looked up to him with a frown. The other demon was not out of breath, but he was clutching at his coat lapel in a death grip. “ Alastor ?” 

When he touched his shoulder,  Alastor looked up to him with wide eyes. “I’m a  _ deer  _ demon, Vox. I’m  _ prey _ . ”

Vox cocked an eyebrow. He opened his mouth to say something when it hit him. “ _ Oh _ .” He watched  Alastor for a bit more. He paced back and forth, his shoes clicking on the ground, his ears twitching wildly. Of course,  Alastor would be upset by this. He was a prey animal. “Hey now, this is nothing for a couple of demons of our caliber.  So what if they’ve got a location sensing upgrade? We don’t move! That’s a regular walk in the park. I’ll even make you a promise, and my promises are worth their weight in gold. I promise to you that we’ll survive this. I’ll get you to safety. ”

Alastor nibbled on his gloved finger for a moment. He stopped pacing, looking over his shoulder at him. “Why are you being  _ nice _ to me? You could run off and leave me behind.”

_ “ _ I still want to fuck you. Can’t do that if you’re dead, babe.”

Rage flashed over  Alastor’s face. His smile curled, his eyes narrowing as he immediately marched on Vox. “You disgust me, you sexed crazed electronic! I will  _ never _ , EVER-”

“-And you’re back!” Vox patted him on the shoulder. “You’re so easy. Hit on you and you’re right back to that fiery pain in the ass that I need you to be. I can’t have you stuck in prey mode and have you bolt or do anything sudden.”

“I...”  Alastor’s shoulders dropped. “I.... oh. I-I see. I suppose I should give you more credit than I do.”

“ Can I turn that credit in for a romp, or ...?” He raised an eyebrow and smirked at him.

“...Are you still trying to weirdly motivate me?”

“You’ll always be questioning that now, won’t you?”

Alastor’s ears went back. “You’re an asshole. I think you’ve had enough time to recover. Let’s go.” He started toward the alleyway’s opening. An executioner’s light fell upon them. The world around them seemed to slow to down to almost nothing.  Alastor’s shoes skidded on the ground as he tried to make a turn. Vox lunged for the ground as the light washed over them. An alarm rung out over the alley way as it registered their movements .  Everything burned and went white hot.  The two of them blew backward. Vox fell on his back, skidding across the gritty alleyway. The hard hit left him stunned on the ground. He tried picking up his head to see where  Alastor was.

“Vox...? W-where are you? I can’t see-”

He spotted Alastor. The other demon was facing him, on his stomach. His monocle was smashed, and he was trembling from the blast and the light. A good amount of blood was coming from a gash on his forehead. It ran down his face and into his eyes, making him squint. Above him was the executioner, raising their spear into the air. Vox saw the glint of the weapon’s lethal point reflecting off of his screen. 

There was no way  Alastor was going to see the danger, or be able to move out of the way. An  executioner  was going to end his favorite foe, right in front of him. 

He got to his feet, staggering toward the executioner. He lashed out, grabbing hold the spear. A burning sensation tore through his flesh. Every part of him screamed to let go, yet he grabbed hold of it with his other hand.

The executioner’s eyes turned a bright red. Vox rammed into them with his shoulder, knocking them away from  Alastor . He drove the spear straight through the executioner until they no longer moved. He let go, watching the being fall to the ground.  His hands burned, and for a moment, he could have sworn he heard them sizzling.  Alastor flipped himself onto his back, looking up at Vox and his smoking hands, then toward the dead executioner in the alleyway.

“You... you  _ killed  _ an executioner.”

“It was going to kill you! There was no way you were going to get out of the way in time!” 

Alastor got up to his feet, staggering a bit. He wiped the blood from his face, huffing when he loomed over Vox’s hands. “You  _ idiot _ .” He took hold of his hands, examining them closely. “I could have handled the situation just fine! But  _ no _ . You had to come and do something stupid and  reckless -” 

“I-”

“ _ No. Talking. _ "  Alastor held up his finger to Vox’s screen. He picked up the hem of his coat, tearing off a long strip from the ragged bottom. “I can take care of myself; I’ve been doing it for decades. If need be, I can swap myself out for one of my decoys. You didn’t have to do that. ”

Vox mentally trailed off.  Alastor was still going on about something while Vox watched him carefully wrap up his hands with the makeshift bandages. He could not move his fingers well, but he supposed that was the point. Eventually during his scolding,  Alastor’s voice changed. It was no longer tinged with static. It was also heavy with an accent. 

“What do you have to say for yourself?”

“...I didn’t know you were southern.”

“ Wha -” He shook his head , and cleared his throat . “Don’t change the subject!”

Unfortunately, his voice was back to normal.  “ ... Okay, okay. Point made.” He tapped his screen. “Hm. What to say, what to say. Oh! When did you start caring about me?”

Alastor immediately flushed.  “Don’t get things confused, Vox. I don’t care about you, but if we want to make it out alive? You need me, and I need you. We both agreed to that earlier, I’m just trying to adhere to our earlier agreement.” He poked him in the chest.

“You know, you’re blushing.”

“Shut.  _ Up _ .”  Alastor rolled his eyes. “Come on, we need to find shelter and recover. You’re going to need your hands. Maybe I can try healing you, but I can’t do that out in the open. It’s too risky, and they’ll find us if we stay in one spot for too long.” 

“Point made. Let’s go.” Vox headed out of the alley way, and back on the crooked street. Once they were on the main street of the city, carnage was everywhere. There were black scorch marks over the streets, and the left - over silhouettes of demons who were no longer there scarred on to the sides of nearby buildings.  Alastor broke from his side, heading over to one of the mangled bodies. He knelt down beside it, his eyes widening.

“Vox.”

“What, what is it?” He headed over to him, looking down at the corpse splattered all over the ground . He grimaced. “Poor bastard.”

“Yeah, yeah- whatever. Look at it though, don’t you see it?”

“I really don’t want to look at it,  Alastor . It’s a bunch of blown out guts.”

“Exactly! This poor fellow’s been blown up from the  _ inside _ .” 

Vox’s eyes widened. “That’s... that’s not a thing they’ve ever been able to do. ” He looked around the body for any other sorts of clues. Scratched out in frantic ink beside the body were a few jagged words. “Beware mind gas. The fuck is that supposed to mean?”

Alastor stood up and touched Vox’s forearm. “Something about this cleansing is  _ wrong _ .”

Vox looked around the street, spying a boarded-up house close by. “That’s more motivation for us to go take shelter . Come on. I see a place we can hide in.” Alastor got up to his feet, joining Vox at his side as they made their way to the abandoned house. With a few shoves, they were able to break in through the door. Once they were inside, they reset the door. Silence and dust greeted them. “Hello?”

Nothing returned his call.

Alastor walked into the small living room. The three large windows were haphazardly boarded up, allowing Hell’s red lights to seep through the opened areas. He pulled off the cloth covering one of the couches. Dust flew up in a fury, falling down like snow. “Vox, in here. There’s a couch.”

Vox peered in, heading into the dirty living room. His back was screaming at him, his hands were scorched, and one old couch was looking like  best thing he had seen all day. He sat down next to  Alastor . “Y-you know, it’s like they’re testing out new models on us. Seeing what’s the most effective at ridding mass amounts of populations.” There was an explosion in the distance. Both of them went still for a good minute before moving again.

“You have a point. It explains the hunting by movement. ...But... what else did they make then? What else could they be hunting us with? How did they blow up a demon from the inside?”  He swallowed thickly. “I know how to avoid the old models - ”

“-And that’s the problem. We know how to beat the old ones. I suppose it’s about time they’ve upgraded.” Vox felt sudden warmth at his side.  Alastor moved closer to him, his eyes focused on the ground. Cautiously, he placed an arm around the other demon’s shoulders. “Look, it’s going to be alright. It’s you. It’s me. Regardless of prey status, we’ll survive this. We’re two of the shrewdest demons to ever step foot in Hell. Nothing can beat us when we work together. And besides, I promised you I’d get you to some place safe. ”

“I-I know. I... I just-” He turned to look at Vox with a wide eyed, pale faced expression, and the smallest smile Vox had ever seen him give. “This all reminds me of-of n-never mind.” He waved it off, and rubbed the middle of his forehead. “Delving into the past will get us killed. Let me see your hands, I need to try to fix them while we’ve got the time. I’ve never tried to heal executioner damage before. I make no promises.”

Vox stared at  Alastor . He was right, but he still wanted to know. He shook his head. “Right, right. My hands.” He removed his arm from around  Alastor’s back, offering the other his bandaged hands.  Alastor carefully unwrapped them. The fabric stuck to the rawer areas, drawing out a noise of discomfort from him. His mangled, melted flesh greeted them. It reminded Vox of the time he accidently put one of his toys by the oven when he was a child. 

“Ugh!”  Alastor launched into a tirade in a different language. It sounded like French, but the accent was different. He stared at  Alastor once more, amazed.

“What are you even saying?”

“Fool!”  Alastor fired at him, his ears back.

Vox highly doubted it was only that, as  Alastor kept going. He paused every now and then to glare at him, before muttering something else. His hands began to glow a bit, but unlike the red magic he had seen  Alastor do in the past, this was green. His hands were slowly beginning to ache less and itch more. He remained quiet, watching  Alastor fully involved in healing him. He wanted to make a quip about how much  Alastor is supposed to be hating him, but he kept it to himself. He liked this, he liked getting along with him. He liked having  Alastor’s body pressed against his, even if they were only sitting on the couch. He like  Alastor holding his hands, even if it was just to heal him.

Maybe it was due to them both being media demons. Maybe it was their past, their chemistry, their shared love of entertainment. Whatever it was, he felt a pleasant spark coursing through him at their close contact. He watched  Alastor healing him, noting how heavily he was concentrating  as the melodic words fell from his lips. There was something profound about watching a demon who considered him an enemy wanting so much to heal him, and trying hard to do so. He took the moment to appreciate how the dark edges of his hair framed his jawline, and how the red light from beyond the boarded windows softened his grey face.  “Beautiful.”

How he wanted to press the smaller demon down to the dirty couch and drag more of whatever dialect of French he was speaking out of him, though this time they would be heavy with lust. He wanted- no. He did not want to do any of that here on an old couch in the middle of a cleansing. He wanted to do it properly, in his bedroom, on his bed, surrounded by his expensive sheets. Where they could take their time. Where they were safe.  Oh how  _ nice  _ Alastor would look blissed out on the middle of his bed, his red hair contrasting with the black material. 

“Vox? What? What’s beautiful? I’ve been asking you for the past few minutes.”

“Huh? Oh, sorry. I’ve never been healed before. It’s distracting.” He lied.

“Ah. I see.” He eyed Vox for a moment. “...Try moving your fingers.” 

Vox flexed his hands, opening and closing them into fists. “There’s resistance, but I can use them.”

“That’s the best I can do, I’m afraid. I’m not well versed in healing, and this is  damage from heaven. I bet Charlie can heal you, though! She’s half angel. ...If not Lucifer himself. He’ll probably heal you for the good deed.”

“I’m not worried,  Alastor . It’ll be fine. You did great, I’m not in any pain  anymore .”

“Except for the back?”

“Yeah.” He grimaced and rubbed at his lower back. “I don’t know what I did.”

“Here.”  Alastor reached over, using the fleshy part of his palm to rub his back through his suit coat.

“ _ Fuck _ .” Vox hissed. “That’s-that’s really good. You know, I like you being nice to me. If it wasn’t for the potentially violent deaths awaiting us, I’d say this was a pretty good day.”

“Well. You did kill an executioner for me. It won’t kill me to be a little decent to you. Though... I’m not sure why you would do that. I figured you would have wanted me out of the way.”

“You’re right. And normally yes, I would have lamented never getting what I wanted from you but your death would have meant one less thorn in my side. However, being stabbed in the back is no way to go. You wouldn’t have had a chance to save yourself. It wasn’t right, and you didn’t deserve to go out that way.”

Alastor looked up to him, with a softness present in his eyes Vox knew he had never seen before. 

Silence passed over them. Slowly, cautiously,  Alastor l eaned against him . Vox’s arm slid around  Alastor’s waist, and the two sat in the stillness of the abandoned house. A white, bright light slid in from outside. They froze on the couch as it passed over them.  Alastor went from feeling pleasantly relaxed against him  to rigid like a pole. 

“It’s fine.” He kept his voice low. “We’re alright. Just keep still.”

“SOUND DETECTED.” 

Alastor’s hand grabbed his arm, pulling him into a nearby closet. He shut the door just in time for the wall to be blown in. Bits of rubble hit the door, the wall, the floor surrounding their hiding space.  Alastor had his lapels in an iron grip.

“SCANNING THE AREA.”

The light passed over the closet, shining through the small crack under the door. Vox pulled  Alastor close to him, wanting to muffle the sound of his hammering heart. Seconds ticked by agonizingly slow.

“NO SOUND DETECTED. RESCANNING THE AREA IN TWO MINUTES.”

Alastor pulled away from him, the light from Vox’s screen highlighting him in a soft blue light. Vox watched him nimble on his finger in thought, before his eyes snapped open. His hands flew to Vox’s coat, opening it without any regard for personal space. After a moment of digging through his pockets, he pulled out the cell phone.

_ Brilliant _ . He mouthed to  Alastor , and took the phone from him. He unlocked the device, navigating to his music list.  Alastor reached over to grab the door knob, and after he received a nod from Vox, he opened the closet door. Vox hit the play button, throwing the loud phone out the door. The executioner turned a bright red, following the sound away from the closet.

The two demons fled for the massive hole in the wall, breaching into Hell’s evening air. An explosion ripped from behind them, sending a shower of debris their way. A particularly large piece nailed Vox in the back. He hissed out, snagging  Alastor’s arm for support. The two of them were soon running hard down the street. Their feet slapping hard against the sidewalk, their breath hard and coming out ragged the longer they ran.

“Hey!  Heyyyy ! Over here!”

They slowed to a stop, spying another demon waving to them. “Fuck.” Vox leaned over, his hands on his knees. His back was throbbing from a needle like sensation, stabbing along his spi n e. “Oh fuck, my back.”

“You’re hurt.” Alastor gave Vox a hesitant look. The two of them looked over from where they came from, seeing a hazy glow slowly begin to grow.

“Come on, they’re coming! They’ve started usin’ the mind gas! If they blanket this area with it, your both dead! ”

“Fine. But I’m not optimistic.” He muttered. With a couple of quick steps, they had crossed the street and followed a purple owl demon down into a ratskeller. It was a dirty stone structure, with a beat-up bar. There was a cloud of nervous smoke from far too many cigarettes sinking around them. There were a few demons kicking around in the bar, with a variety of injuries. Vox’s eyes darted around his screen, searching the walls for anything that could get them out of there besides the one exit should things turn sour. “Nope. We’re leaving. Come on.”

“What? What do you mean  _ nope _ ? ”

“There’s only one exit. You don’t fight or take shelter in a fucking basement. If they come down those stairs, we’re all dead. I told you I’d get us out of this, and I’m not going to risk all of what we’ve been through so far to die like rats. Especially if they’re using that gas- ”

“We go out there now, we’re dead because of it .  Your back needs tending to, at least if they attack us here, I’ll have a minute or two to heal you.”

“I don’t need  healing; I can ignore the pain. It’s no big deal-”

“You’re going to go over and sit on one of those terrible  bar stools, and you’re going to let me look at your back. I don’t  _ care _ how well you can pretend to not be in pain, because you haven’t been the slightest bit convincing about that all night .”

“Nag nag nag. That’s what you sound like right now.” 

Alastor’s eyes narrowed at him, his upper lip curling dangerously. “Sit. Down.  _ Now _ .”

Vox felt the static crackle around him, making a bit of his own static erupt from his antennae. The other demons were watching them now. He picked up some of their whispers. They were taking bets on  who would win this, and  how whipped he was to be taking orders from the Radio  Demon.

“This is the most hilarious shit I’ve ever seen! Who  woulda thought that the great and powerful Vox is pussy whipped by his damn filly.”

Cords surrounded the large demon, wrapping him up to his face. Vox tightened his hand, slowly beginning to strangle him.  Alastor turned to watch, smirking. “Snap his neck, ‘babe’.” 

Vox felt his screen heat up. He snapped his fingers with no fanfare, causing the other demon’s neck to twist and crunch under the cord’s vice grip. They vanished, letting the heavy body fall to the ground. “I ah... I’ll sit down now.”

-

Somehow,  Alastor seemed to know all of his trouble points on his back. Every spot he touched seemed to unwind from the pain knot it was in. “ Idon’tknowwhyIfoughtyouonthis .” The words came out like a slurred mess.

“Men in pain do strange things.”

Vox blinked, looking over his shoulder at  Alastor with a questioning expression on his face. The other demon merely shrugged with the same, unsettling smile plastered all over his face. “You’re a creepy fucker, Alastor.”

“Would you like me to stop?”

“I’m not taking it back .”

Alastor chuckled. “It’s fine. You can console my tattered feelings by letting me ask one question.”

“I know this game-”

“ - It’s  _ your  _ game.” Alastor’s grin widened.

“Go ahead.” Vox sighed. “Ask your question.”

“The basement thing sounds personal. Did you die in one?”

Vox straightened up, turning toward  Alastor . He cocked his head at him curiously. “No. My father was a soldier in the first war. He used to drill these things in to me and my siblings all the fucking time about this shit .  It’s how I made sure all of my war television shows were correct. ... I never thought I’d be in one of those scenarios, but... here we are. I guess I just panicked. Sometimes these things trigger some long-buried memories. My death wasn’t interesting enough to mention. What about you, since you brought up the subject?” He watched as all of the color drained from  Alastor’s face. He dropped his hands from Vox’s back, neatly folding them into his lap.

“Sorry.” He reached out to him, his fingers grazing his chin.  Alastor leaned into the touch, prompting him to slide his fingers along his jaw line. “I shouldn’t have asked.”

“No, it’s a valid question. It’s just not one I can answer you right now.”

“That’s fair. I won’t press it. ” He dropped his hand, not wanting to press his luck.

“ So you two fucks were out there?” The bartender leaned over the marred surface, cocking one of five eyebrows at them. “You  gotta be kiddin’ me. We’ve been hearing reports of motion sensing executioners-”

“We can confirm those.”  Alastor nodded. “...Vox killed one.”

“Killed?” The bartender’s voice went dark. “...I see.” He turned his back to them, exposing his lumpy back to them. Vox raised an eyebrow at them. They were evenly spaced out, and the same size. He glanced beside him to look at  Alastor to see if the other demon noticed anything.  Alastor however, was busy keeping an eye on the door, rather than their host. 

He pushed the thought from his mind. If  Alastor wasn’t concerned, he wasn’t going to bother at the moment.  “Oh, and the sound detecting one. I lost my phone to that bastard.” 

“Fuck.” The bartender ran a ten t acle down his face.  “You boys have had quite the night. You should have a drink on the house after that!”

Vox opened his mouth to give his thanks when he took a nother good long look at the bartender. He seemed to be a mixture of four different beings sewn haphazardly together, along with the four covered lumps on his back. His eyes narrowed as  nagging  feeling crawled down back like long fingers pricking at his skin. There was something  _ wrong _ . He reached down to take  Alastor’s hand.

The other demon jumped at the touch, shooting Vox a glance.  He responded by gesturing his head toward the bartender.  Alastor narrowed his eyes, and squeezed his hand back.

The two glasses were slammed loudly on the bar top.  An  odd-looking f luid sloshed over the top, staining the rough surface. “Drink up.” The bartender groused, looking at them intently. Alastor remained silent, not moving for the glass. Vox spied him stretching out his fingers on his other hand, with a faint red glow beginning to form around them.

When neither of them moved, the bartender stood back, broadening his shoulders. “I said-”

Vox grabbed the glass and threw it in the bartender’s face. Sparks flew out of him as he roared loudly enough to rattle every surface in the bar. He reached up with one set of arms to grab the top of his head, peeling his odd flesh from his body like a banana. Underneath was  a hulking executioner with four large tanks strapped to his  back.

_ Mind gas _ ? Vox thought of the warning scrawled out by the demon’s remains. “Fuck, Alastor-”

Alastor fired a blast of red tinted magic in the executioner’s face. It struck the being, sliding over the surface like oil over water- not doing a lick of harm. The other demons screamed in a panic, running about the bar in a clumsy attempt to find the door.  Alastor twisted his hand in Vox’s grip to grab it better, yanking the demon toward the door.

The tanks on the executioner’s back opened. Gas poured out into the closed space, causing the other demons to cough and choke.  In the ensuing confusion,  Alastor’s hand slipped from his. The gas was everywhere now, rising up toward his screen. 

Vox turned his head toward the sounds of suffering demons. Some of them began to scream, clawing at themselves, the other demons, or at the floor. Wails of terror over things that were not happening. A nearby demon gouged his own eyes out, babbling wildly about how she died. He ran his hands down his screen, placed his hands on his chest, and on his sides. Nothing felt different. Nothing came to him about his death.

_ Of course not. You don’t have a mouth _ .  _ You can’t breathe it in.  _

He felt a clawed hand rake down his pant leg. He looked down to see  Alastor clutching at his pant leg, his red eyes fading to black. “ Alastor !” He reached down, grabbing  Alastor up into his arms. He muscled past the outstretched hands trying to grab hold of him.

He flew out the door and up the stairs, laying  Alastor down on the ground. “ Alastor ! Come on. Y-you weren’t in there long. You’re fine!” He patted his cheek. “Y-you’re doing fine.”  Alastor’s hands grabbed his wrists in an iron grip. 

“ Noooo .  Noooo , it can’t- I can’t!”  Alastor’s gray face was a sickly white, his eyes fully black. He began to sweat, twisting his torso at a near impossible angle. “Please, please no!” He brought up his leg, kicking Vox in the middle of his screen hard enough to send him backward. He scrambled to his feet, taking off down the ruined street.

Vox let out a crackling wheeze, feeling a course of static go through him. His screen was cracking, distorting his vision into different directions. “ Alastor !!” He picked himself up off the ground, taking off after  Alastor . He followed him through the streets of Pentagram City, ignoring the pain in his chest and his throbbing back.  Up in front of him, he saw the neon glow from his studio’s sign. They were only a block away.  “Stop! We’re right by the studio! ”

Alastor turned the corner and went down the alleyway, banging into the walls and whatever debris was in the way. Vox grabbed  Alastor’s arm, forcing him to turn around. The other demon jerked violently, as if he would rather lose an arm than stay still. “No! No, let me go! They’re coming!”

Vox tightened his grip. “Who is coming?! Tell me!”

“...Dogs- The sheriff’s dogs.” Tears rolled down  Alastor’s too pale cheeks. “They’re going to rip me to pieces like the last time. They’re coming— _ please _ . Don’t you hear them barking?! I need to run!”

“Fuck.” He mumbled and held tightly to the struggling demon. “No! No running. You need to breathe. In and out. Come on, Alastor. In and out.”

To his surprise,  Alastor sucked in a ragged breath. In and out, like Vox had instructed. If he did not know any better, he could have sworn he was backstage with a frightened actor- coxing them back down from whatever panic attack they were having. “Now. Focus on just my voice and shut your eyes.” He felt him trembling in his grip, no longer thrashing around. “Do you still hear the dogs?”

“...Faintly. T-there's so many. If they find us, we’re dead. They’re going to tear us apart-”

Vox placed his finger against his lips. “-Then we stay quiet.”  Alastor’s movements went still as soon as the words left him. After a moment, he spoke once more. “Do you hear them?”

“No. W-where are they?”

“They’re not coming this way ; they’ve confused your scent with something else. They’ve turned the other way. They’re not going to find us now .”

Alastor’s breathing evened out. His shoulders slowly unpinned from his ears. He turned his head left and right, straining to hear anything. “... Oh, they’re gone. You’re right. I can’t hear them. We’re safe!”

Vox sighed. His grip slowly loosened. “Safe is right.” He slid his hands down to  Alastor’s , linking their fingers. “ Come on, Alastor- come back to me ...Do you know where we are?”

Alastor’s fingers slowly squeezed his hands. “Hell. We’re in Hell. We’re dead. I-I already... w-was... torn apart by dogs. I don’t understand.” He swallowed thickly. “That gas- would it have made me go through that again.”

Vox though back to the demons in the bar, and the bodies they saw on the street.  Whatever their deaths were, they relived it twice. He felt an odd stirring in his chest as he looked at Alastor. His death sounded awful. What purpose did it serve to torture someone with their violent death more than once? “Yeah, I ah... I guess that’s how it works. I really don’t want to think about it right now, babe.”

Instead, tears began to stream down Alastor’s cheeks as color slowly began to return to them. His eyes opened, returning back to the red sclera Vox found himself more than pleased to see. “Your screen!”

One of his eyes became static, which was fine. He didn’t need to see two concerned Alastors. “Ah, it’s fine.”

“No, it isn’t.”  Alastor reached up, gingerly touching the crack. Vox shut his good eye, feeling the sensation of the other demon’s magic slide over his screen. The ache began to lessen to some simple pressure. It sank into the crack, remaining like thick green glue. “I don’t know how to fix this but at least you won’t shatter your screen until you can get back to your studio.”

Vox took his hands, squeezing them. “Come with me to the studio.” He knew there was a note of desperation in his voice. “We’re not far,  it’s a mere block away . We’ll go up the back, you’ll never know it’s full of debauchery- the staircase is very unsexy, I promise.”

Alastor chuckled, shaking his head. “Vox, I-” His half-lidded eyes went wide. The smile vanished from his face. He gripped Vox’s lapels, swinging him around. A spear pierced through  Alastor’s chest, splattering Vox with blood. The red in his eyes instantly faded, his limbs twitching until they dangled at his sides. The spear tore out the hole it made, making  Alastor’s body fall lifelessly to the side.

Vox reached over to catch him, pulling his body into his arms. He still felt warm.  Alastor eyes washed over in static, before fading to black. Vox’s knees knocked and went weak. He brought a shaking hand to his black eyes, closing them. He fell to one knee, taking  Alastor’s body with him. His good eye roamed up to the executioner, the tanks on his back glinting in Hell’s red light.

Alastor’s blood formed a trail up to the executioner, who’s painted smile never faltered.

“I promised.”

The words came out fast.

“ _ I promised _ .” His hands began to shake as he looked at  Alastor’s body. He laid him down on the ground, drawing himself up to his feet. A crackle of blue laced static rolled off his back. The executioner poised their spear at Vox, blood still dripping off of the tip.

Cords shot from him, wrapping around the arm that held the spear, and the rest of their body. The touch burned, but he found himself not caring. Alastor’s last laugh echoed in his head. His expression was real before he successfully saved Vox. His final expression, one of twisted agony flashed in his head.

His cords tightened.

“You made him  _ remember _ .”  Alastor’s panicked voice and his tear streaked face was one he was never going to forget. His cords tore the executioner's arm from his socket. They screamed, and it echoed across Hell. No wonder why  Alastor hated this night more than others. All he wanted to do was find a place to be safe, and Vox could not provide that in the end .

He failed him .

“ _Demon filth_. _You won’t take another one of us._ ” 

His body felt like it was boiling from the inside out. Feelings he did not understand roiled through him, erupting from him like a power surge. “Fuck you.” He gripped his cords, channeling his surge into them. 

Hell wasn’t worth being in without  Alastor after tonight. No other demon talked to him like that. No one had the gall, the nerve, the sheer attitude  Alastor had. Smoke began to rise from his body. He shut his eye, feeling the  white - hot heat and ringing sound tear through him as an explosion engulfed them both.

-

Vox slowly pulled himself up. Bolts of static arched off of him, cracking in the thick air. The remains of the executioner were splattered all over the buildings looming over him. The blown-out tanks were warped and torn. He staggered to the side, his body heaving from the pain now felt in every part of his body. He looked around the alley way for  Alastor’s body, not seeing him anywhere. All that was left was a small burlap doll with a large hole through the middle of it. He picked it up from the ground, turning it over in his hand. Fluffy white stuffing leaked out.

“You were sweet, mourning for that doll.”  Alastor’s voice echoed in the alleyway. 

“ Wh -” Vox whipped around, looking around wildly. 

“Sh. I’m okay.” He slipped out of the shadows, wrapping his arms around Vox from behind. He pressed his face into his back. “I’m okay, I swear. I didn’t mean to scare you, but there was no time to warn you of the swap. Sorry darling, I’m really, truly sorry.”

Vox twisted around  in  Alastor’s arms. He looked down at the smaller demon, bringing his hand up to trail down the side of his face. He felt warmth beneath his fingers. “You’re really here?”

“Yes. I swear to you, I am.”

Vox cupped the sides of his face, letting his thumbs stroke  Alastor’s cheeks. “Don’t you fucking do that to me again. I thought I... I lost you, for fuck’s sake.”

“I know.”  Alastor glanced toward the remains of the executioner. “You  _ killed  _ one. Not with their own weapon, but with your powers. We  _ can’t _ do that.  _ How _ -”

“I thought they killed you! And they made you relive your death, which sounds  _ really _ fucking awful. I wanted to destroy them for you- That’s how!” He narrowed his eye at him. “Wait. ...You shouldn’t have been able to heal the damage done to me from their weapon earlier either. How did  _ you _ -”

Alastor’s eyes widened. “You’re right-”

“Say that again, please.”

“What, you’re right?”

“One more time.”

Alastor rolled his eyes at him. “Moving on, I suppose I just wanted to heal you, because ah... You... you saved  me, you got hurt because of me.”

Vox removed his hands from  Alastor’s face. He pulled him close, his arms wrapping firmly around his waist.  Alastor’s fingers gingerly explored his screen, mindful of the repaired crack. When he was done, Vox’s screen was blushing a light blue. “ _ Come with me _ .”

Alastor’s fingers traced the edge of his screen. His expression went soft, opening his mouth to give his answer. The alley way flooded with two sets of headlights. In shock, they separated.  Alastor reached out to snag his hand, the gesture illuminated in the light.

“Boss! Fucking finally!”

“Alastor! Come on, we’ve been looking for you all night! You wouldn’t believe what’s been released, we’ll fill you in on the way home.”

Two women and Valentino approached them, no one seemingly noticing them holding hands. Vox squinted at the women. One was none other than their princess, and the other was her girlfriend.  _ Ah, from the hotel. _ Both parties swarmed them. Vox felt his fingers slide from  Alastor’s grip. He grabbed for him, but with Valentino pulling on him, and  Alastor’s friends trying to usher him to the limo, they had to let go.

Vox felt like he was walking through water. It was over, the night was done. They were safe.  Alastor caught his glance once more before he was shoved into the limo by an insistent Valentino. The other demon’s expression was absolutely unreadable as he reached toward him one last time. The limo door was slammed shut.

“Fucking hell boss, you look like shit.”

-

Alastor was standing on the balcony of his hotel room, watching the glow Vox’s studio created against the red sky. 

His drive back was filled with one thousand questions- most of them from  Vaggie about the executioner’s body. He found himself unable to speak as his mind seemed more intent on reviewing everything that had happened. He thought the mind gas, and how real everything felt. It was as if he was in the bayou once more as a human, with dogs right on his heels. Yet there Vox was with him, an anomaly in the bayou. He was well-dressed man in an expensive suit with a pompadour and dark eyes, who was there to bring him back to reality.

_ Vox was handsome as a human. _

Alastor pushed the thought from his mind as he wandered back inside. He grabbed the room’s phone, dialing the operator. “Porn Studios, please.” As he waited for the connection, he went to his vanity where a wooden box sat. He opened the lid, pulling out a voodoo doll of Vox. The doll had several pins shoved in to  its back. 

After a few minutes of fighting with the Porn Studios’ receptionist, Vox’s voice came through.

“I’m not in the mood. You’ve got thirty seconds.”

Alastor smirked, and began pulling the pins out of the doll’s back. “ _ C'est  _ _ moi _ .”

“Thank fucking hell. You’re safe?”

“Yes, I’m quite safe. You?”

“Pissed, but fine. I just finished replacing my screen.”

Alastor put the last pin in a dish. “Why so upset, darling?”

There was a long pause. “...I think it’s obvious.”

He felt himself blush, rubbing his thumbs soothingly into the doll’s back. “ _ Well _ . You could always ask me out if you miss me already.” 

“Fine. How’s now?”

“Terrible!” He laughed. “You’re an absolute mad man. The night isn’t over yet. How about tomorrow?”

“It’s too long. But... fine.”

“Vox, you’re making me blush. Hey, how’s your back?”

“It’s one-hundred percent better- almost all the sudden. Like nothing was ever wrong.”

“Good.”  Alastor ran his fingers down the length of the doll. “Thank you for keeping me safe tonight. You went above and beyond for me.”

“I don’t break my promises, babe. You know, it’s kind of funny. I feel like you’re here with me. I’m not sure why, but I’m not complaining.”

Alastor got up from his vanity, heading toward the balcony once more. “I’m looking at your tacky studio right now. I’m looking forward to tomorrow, Vox. Do me a favor and stay alive until then?”

“Done and done, wouldn’t miss it for the world. Before I let you go, I’m pleased to say I know the source of my back pain.”

“Oh? Do tell. I’m guessing it’s your shoes. They look uncomfortable.”

“Yeah, and before tonight I would have agreed. I’ve got a question for you.”

“Certainly.”

“How handsome did you make the voodoo doll of me?”

Alastor did not fight the amused smile crossing over his face, looking down at the doll in his hand. “It’s the best looking one in my box.” 

-END


End file.
